DS's friends say our house smells

[fruitstick]

I know it does but I'm mortified. DS's friends are also quite a bit wealthier than us with bigger houses etc but I don't want DS to feel he can't bring people round.

We keep the house clean but have a dog and two cats. The cats have litter trays upstairs which don't help.

I blame our hallway as no fucker puts their shoes away (DS & DH) and there are loads of coats (mainly DH's).

I have the next week off work so was planning on a big clean up anyway.

What do I need to be doing.

I know the dog on the sofa means we need to wash the cushions more regularly than we do. I'm not as religious about cleaning as I could be.

But tell me what I need to be doing.

It’s the dog. They stink more than any cat litter will.

You need to clean the litter twice a day. We have a litter robot in the downstairs bathroom and a normal litter upstairs in the bathroom. Every time I go to the upstairs toilet I give the tray a clean.

But it’s probably a combination of everything. No matter how hard you clean your house will always stink of dog if you have a dog.

Friends and acquaintances with dogs who are super clean still have houses and cars that stink of dog. Even if they think they don’t.

@Fartooold I’m glad that was your experience, but please don’t dismiss the experience of those who have grown up in dirty households. It can be traumatising and humiliating and the very furthest from enjoyable.

OP I’m sorry for the loss of your son, it sounds like you know what needs to be done and that there are some issues. Will the rest of your family be supportive?

Your DH needs a big, big clear out.
Old stinky, shoes and coats need to go.
Make sure your storage is adequate for everyone’s shoes and if it’s not, get more storage or chuck some shoes away
Hoover and mop daily
Open windows daily
Wash blankets etc weekly if not twice a week

I bought one of these as I hated cooking smells that lingered, Deodoriser

it’s smells quite artificial tbh but does absorb smells effectively and quickly, I use it to neutralise the air if I’ve cooked and used to use it when the dog was wet and smelly.

Goodness, dogs and cats here.
Litter is the worst. Keep it clean
You can spray their shoes, I find a Dettol antibacterial spray very good for this.
You can put coats away, and wash them, no one else does in my house.
We have an old cat, and need to restrict where she wanders, as she will go and wet on people’s beds if the doors are left open, causing me to have to replace many quilts.
I should have “close the door” written on my forehead

Jackets can develop weird smells, especially the Barbour type ones

the shoes need to be put away ideally

I have a neutrodol gel thing

https://www.savers.co.uk/Household/Home-Fragrance/Gels-%26-Liquid-Fresheners/Neutradol-Gel-Super-Fresh/p/451609

You can get litter trays with a flap and a lid with a carbon filter in the top.

Sorry about your ds

As everyone else has said just change and clean the litter tray at least daily if not after every use. Cat wee does smell very strongly.

Clear out the excess unused shoes and coats into charity bags, do it while your dh is at work and he'll never notice. Hoarders hoard but they rarely seem to recall what they are hoarding.

Windows open, sheets and animal bedding washed weekly. I'm sorry your dc's friends have been so blunt but if they've noticed it, others will have too.

OP I am so sorry to hear about your loss. That’s unimaginably sad and it would be understandable if it’s in any way contributing to you feeling less able to deal with this, or feeling less like you give a toss also.

There are some small steps that would probably help - hopefully you can focus on those from this thread and not the folks who have jumped on to be mean about it all.

Just to say take good care and remember you can ask for help - from inside or outside your house - if it would be good for you. It’s not all on you.

I hoover and sweep daily (multiple times)

^^ @EyeEyeEyes. Unless she has filthy people/animals tramping through the house all the time there is no need to Hoover and deep multiple times a day.

And febrezing the curtains is a no from me as well.

Im sorry someone’s been that rude, if they’ve come from a house with no animals they will notice a certain smell regardless imo. When you first come in from outside can you smell anything?

It’s important to try and prevent the cats from peeing outside the litter tray as that smell is almost impossible to completely get rid of. The recommendation is to have a litter tray per cat. I would suggest a cheaper litter (I use the wood pellets), don’t over fill and change more often. Covered litter trays are better.

I won’t just repeat everything that has already been suggested.

Im really sorry for what you’ve been through ❤️

Talk to DH, say this is troubling you and perhaps he may have a sort out.

I use the Pet Odour refills-they do work.

When my house starts to smell, it's the bin ( no pets). I empty the bin at least every two days.

A tiny splash of bleach down a sink plug or in the loo makes that area smell fresh. Some people hate it, but a tiny dab of zoflara on the washing up sponge. I know they are toxic to the river systems, but I only buy one bottle of zoflora a year, it's very stinky stuff. You don't need to be using tons of it or bleach to get the benefits.

Occasional I put bleach and boiling water in the empty bin to sit in the garden to get rid of any bin juice.

Pet wee spray for any soft furnishings they wee on. Windows open and fabreeze before visitors.

However best advice for my own dds bitchy friend? She has and never will be allowed back.

Dogs and cats smell and people who don't have pets can pick it up instantly. Especially if several are living indoors in a relatively small home. It doesn't make any sense to clean the litter tray every single time one of them wees or poos and dettol spray everything just on the off-chance someone comes into your house and you don't want to judged. You may just have to accept that by choosing to have several pets, you home is going to be smelly to people who are not used to that environment. End of story.

It's probably a.mixture of everything plus the litter trays having a massive impact. You probably won't get rid of the smell completely whilst they are around. Having them upstairs seems particularly gross...is there any alternative? Keeping on top of washing and cleaning is also really important along with making sure things like coats are washed. My sister's whole house just smells as she has cats and her family are not especially good at keeping on top of things. Her children also smell a bit from time to time. I have worried so much about what their friends could say. Conversely, a friend has cats with no litter tray. They are very household but the smell still hits you the moment you walk in. I'm not sure if they could do anything else. Maybe also invest in some high quality reed diffusers.

'I don't clean the litter tray out as much as I should'

Well to be honest, that's the obvious thing that's probably making your house smell rather than coats and shoes!

You need to clean it out at least once or twice a day and completely change the litter every 3 days.

Your soft furnishings probably will have absorbed some of the smell so clean all of the cushion covers, curtains, rugs etc. and then keep on top of the litter after that.

We have dogs. The things I do to prevent dog smell (although i think it’s impossible to fully get rid of) is:

• blankets on sofa - wash these weekly
• pet febreeze spray for all fabric
• regular hoovering of sofa to get all the fur
• wash dog beds every fortnight or so (ours fit in washing machine)

As others have suggested it may be coats and shoes in the hallway - can you get some storage there where people can put their stuff away? There’s also some good shoe sprays out there which prevents smelly shoes.

This has been helpful, thank you.

Now talk me through ... when you say 'clean / change cat litter daily' what do you mean?

Scooping? Full change? I have covered litter trays with plastic liners which I change once a week and scoop out in between.

How much are you spending on litter?

No, that is not true at all. Cat pee and poo smells (so does ours!) but cats themselves have no smell. They are extremely clean animals.

I forgot to say… cat food! That’s the thing that I always smell if I go in a cat household. Dogs just eat their food when it’s given but lots of cat owners seem to leave the food down all the time and it smells. Could that be contributing?

Why are you the only one responsible for cleaning out the litter trays OP?

It sounds like your children are old enough to be given chores to do. Why can't they do it? Or your DH? I'm irritated in your behalf that he 'can't' put his coats and shoes away.

Your posts make it sound like all the shitwork is solely your burden and that's just not on.

Scoop out any wee/ poo once or preferably twice a day.

Completely throw away all the litter, clean the tray, and refresh with new litter every 3 days.

Yeah it's not cheap - cats aren't cheap! But if you don't want it to smell that's what you need to do.

Which robot hoover do you have please? Ours is rubbish on carpets.

Having read the whole judgy thread this is the one that shows some empathy.
"Your poor kids" WTF?
Make sure you look after yourself OP and ignore the nasty comments on here.

I have threatened to write a thesis called 'cat litter is a feminist issue'

The cats were really DS1's. DS2 has never liked them and didn't want us to get a dog. I wanted a dog. DH said he didn't want any pets because he couldn't be arsed to clean up after them, so it falls to me.

The coats/shoes/hoarding are another matter entirely which I do need to be tougher about.